Santa Fe College has opened its doors for ICE.
The Santa Fe College Board of Trustees approved a memorandum of agreement with the agency Tuesday afternoon.
The 287(g) Task Force Model memorandum of agreement is a legally binding contract that would allow Santa Fe Police Department officers to act as immigration officers under ICE supervision.
Despite backlash from students and faculty, the college approved the MOA regardless.
Nine students, faculty and community members spoke during the meeting’s public comment before the MOA’s approval.
Angello Badoino, a 21-year-old Santa Fe political science sophomore, asked the board not to sign the deal.
He became emotional as he said ICE has violated the right to due process, and college students across the U.S. have been arrested for speaking out.
“ What can Santa Fe do for their immigrant students?” Badoino asked the board. “There's only two choices: Do they choose liberty, or do they choose fear?”
Brian Neiman, a 28-year-old Santa Fe wildlife ecology and conservation science sophomore, asked the board to delay the decision.
Signing the deal without consulting the student body denied them the opportunity to feel heard, he said.
“ History will remember where we stood here on this day,” Neiman said.
Aleeza Carruthers, a 29-year-old Santa Fe health services administration senior and the Santa Fe Student Senate President, also spoke during citizens' comments.
The Student Senate stands together in condemnation of the proposed MOA 287(g) task force, she said, because it threatens the safety and community built on campus.
Almost 25% of Santa Fe’s student population is Hispanic. It earned a Carnegie classification in April for being a diverse, accepting campus.
Carruthers recognized the trust between students and campus police. Chief of Police Ed Book regularly partners with the student senate, and officers have served as advisors to clubs.
“By signing this MOA, the college would irrevocably link SFPD with ICE,” Carruthers said. “It will jeopardize the trust that we have worked so hard to build, particularly for our international, immigrant and Latino students.”
She asked the board to postpone the agreement until a thorough analysis can be conducted of its impact on student trust and campus safety, involving students and student government in every step.
David Price, a Santa Fe history and political science professor, questioned the clarity of the MOA.
The college’s executive council overwhelmingly recommended postponing consideration of the MOA until it was clarified, Price pointed out.
He said ICE needs to specify what the MOA entails. The agreement doesn’t obligate ICE to inform SFPD if it conducts operations on campus. One section obligates Sante Fe to an “ interconnection security agreement” without explaining what that agreement means.
“ [ICE is], after all, demanding that we agree to many things in writing,” Price said. “They seem only willing to give some vague verbal assurances. Verbal assurances are worth the proverbial paper that they were printed on.”
Making such a quick decision to approve the MOA isn’t the college’s standard procedure, he added.
Marilyn Wende, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, leads protesters in chants against ICE on college campuses at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. The protest took place ahead of a Santa Fe College Board of Trustees meeting where members approved allowing ICE to train campus police.
Prior to the meeting, around 15 protestors gathered outside Sante Fe Building S to protest the deal.
They chanted, “Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here!” and “Books not cages, schools not jail, Santa Fe won’t let justice fail!”
Marilyn Wende, a 31-year-old member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, led the crowd in chants. A big part of the protest was to bring awareness to Santa Fe’s proposed ICE deal, which she only found out a few days prior through a local nonprofit.
“ I think that a big reason [Santa Fe] didn't want to have this meeting during the school year is because they don't really view themselves as having a choice in the matter,” Wende said. “They sure as hell don't want to offer students a choice in whether this gets implemented.”
She is afraid students will be put at risk following the deal. Felipe Zapata Velásquez, a past Sante Fe student and UF international student, was arrested for a traffic violation and deported for an expired visa in April, she said.
After talking to students and community members, Wende said she knows people who are terrified to go to work or get groceries, because even driving in a car is a risk now.
Being this afraid “ removes their freedom of movement, and it removes their ability to actually participate in our society,” she said.
“ We don't want our police and ICE to have more power in our communities,” Wende said.
Contact Maria Avlonitis at mavlonitis@alligator.org. Follow her on X @MariaAvlonitis.
